Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.3333.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Stephens decreased their price target on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In related news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $699,728.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at $6,624,511.35. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total transaction of $177,088.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 173,280 shares in the company, valued at $8,617,214.40. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Veracyte by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $43.34 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 30.74 and a beta of 1.95. Veracyte has a fifty-two week low of $29.38 and a fifty-two week high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.59 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.Veracyte’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Veracyte will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company focused on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care through advanced molecular testing. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company develops and commercializes minimally invasive genomic tests that aid in the diagnosis of thyroid, lung and other diseases. Veracyte’s proprietary platform analyzes gene expression patterns in clinical samples to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions, reducing unnecessary surgeries and improving patient outcomes.

The company’s flagship product, the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, is designed to assess thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, helping clinicians distinguish benign from suspicious nodules.